Emperor's Reckoning

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but it seems like we must end the delightful afternoon," Nora stood up with a bow before being followed by three others.

"I must say, I thought that we would reach some kind of agreement, a shame," the elf king stood up with a sigh. "Nevertheless I wish you great luck in your endeavor." He smiled as he raised his glass toward the four of them.

"With your prayers, even the word 'fear' vanished from our dictionary," Nora smiled. "Thank you for your luxury hospitality, Your Majesty, I bid you farewell."

"Alright," the elf king nodded before drinking his wine. "When the Mortal World change, I hope it's for the better."

"It will be for the better, after all, we are all seeking the original state of the world," Nora left a smirk before bowing one last time as they exited the dining hall.

The elf king furrowed as he heard the last words coming out of Nora's mouth. "The original state of the world?" he muttered solemnly as he watched the guards escort them out.

He waved his hand before two elves revealed themselves from the corner of the room. They immediately took a seat nearest to the king with their eyes closed. Both of them had slender bodies, with the charming faces of handsome men.

"What do you think?" The elf king asked.

"They are as mysterious as the rumors said about them," the braided elf added from the left.

"However, that's nothing but mysteriousness, what's more, important is their goal," said the elf with the straight hair.

"Their next target is someone affiliated to the man called Lyon Torga, a woman in Nostria called, Karina."

The elf king tapped his cheeks, "What is so special about this woman?"

"Her cultivation type, Your Majesty," said the braided elf. "She bore the energy of Anti-Mana inside her veins instead of mana like us."

"I knew it," The elf king solemnly said, "They are after Anti-Mana, but what do they mean by the original state of the world?"

"I have no idea, Your Majesty, however, it seems like they wanted to acquire the power of Anti-Mana within this woman."

"Anti-Mana, the sources of all evil, is it a luck or a curse," the elf king solemnly said before his brows raised. "Don't tell me their goal is to... hmm.. they can't be that absurd can't they?"

"What is it, Your Majesty?" said the straight-haired elf.

"I will refrain to share my thought on this one, Agist," the elf king sighed before he darted toward the braided elf, "What do you think about the woman's affiliation with that juvenile monster?"

"It's hard to say about their relationship, though some people saw it and they admitted it at some time that they are a teacher and student, however, their cultivation level seemed to speak otherwise."

"I meant how close they are, Connak."

"Oh, forgive me, Your Majesty," the braided elf bowed, "They are not that close as of late however, the monster that you spoke of is quite caring to those around him, especially if they are females."

"Humans and their lust," the elf king uttered in a detestable tone. His nose scrunched before he picked up the wooden wine glass and drank what was left. "Phuah! There is nothing more detestable than the sins of the humans."

"However, that could be his weakness, your majesty," said Agist. "After all, he becomes really reckless when something bad happened to the others."

"Hmm, that's a good observation, but how reckless are we talking about here?"

"He would expose himself in danger in protecting them, Your Majesty, truly not befitting a title of a king, even if the entire world of Deo admitted him as such."

"What? The entire Deo heralded him as their king?"

"Well, not officially Your Majesty," answered Connak, "However, the people that shared his name all thought the same thing. That he is the hovering king that unifies— albeit on different names, the kingdoms in Deo."

"Such feat for a young age, it's a shame he wasn't born as an elf," the elf king sighed. "How many years have I waited for a genius to be born in my kingdom."

"We have one Your Majesty, the young Folas. His archery is second to none and his accuracy with the bow is almost reaching mine, he had already received his Elven Bow at the mere age of twenty-two years old," said Agist. "He could very well be the Third Arrow that we are missing."

"Really?" The king raised his bows before he sighed, "But then again if you compare it to what the humans have to offer, he is too far apart."

"I have no comments for that, Your Majesty," Agist uttered. "However, if you compare him to the average humans, even of older age, he is marginally better. The talent in that boy is rare and just what the kingdom needs."

"To think that you even brought up his name to such height, then alright, groom him to become the Third Arrow."

"At once, Your Majesty," Agist nodded.

"Then, let's return back to the main topic. In this massive scale of war, are we going to join in or not?"

"Join the war, Your Majesty?" Connak opened his eyes, "I thought Your Majesty refused to ally with them."

"I did, yes," The elf king nodded. "However, they too have some truths in their words, after all, Lyon is definitely a hovering threat for our kingdoms. If the greed inside him perpetuated him to invade our kingdom, and we are too late to stop him when he is still a juvenile, then we will face a great crisis."

Agist and Connak solemnly looked down.

"Does any of you dare to say that you can handle the current strength of that juvenile monster?" said the elf king.

"If we both worked together then maybe we could strike an arrow through his heart," said Connak. "Or even better, if we used the diversion that Legion unintentionally provided for us, then we could assassinate him with one shot toward the core of his meridian."

"Are you serious?" Agist frowned. "That risk would be too high, can we afford it?"

"Great risk, great reward," Connak crossed his arms. "Though, the decision shall be made by His Majesty."

"You read my mind, Connak," the elf king chuckled.

"Your Majesty?!" Agist raised his voice, "Are you trying to use them as fodder?"

"Indeed, Agist," the elf king answered. "With Legion intentionally evoking the wrath of that monster, it will leave such massive opening that our arrow can quell the threat for our kingdom, no, the entire demi-humans!"

The elf king brought up the atmosphere with his deep voice, only to end up with a sigh, "However, if we failed to do so, we will be facing someone with deep-rooted vengeance against our blood."

"In my opinion, the risk is equal to the reward, the peace of mind that we will have will be comparable," added Connak.

"I was thinking the same thing, however, don't forget that we don't know the entire strength of Legion yet, we might not need to lift our finger at all," said the king.

"That's the wisest choice, Your Majesty," Agist nodded.

"Yet again, Agist, this is perhaps the best chance we ever had, after all, you don't see a war of such massive scale every day," the elf king solemnly said.

"But, Your Majesty, what if we just wait for how the war will unfold and decide from there?" asked Agist. "I'm sure you agree with me, right, Connak."

"That is the most possible outcome, but what do we do when the opportunity presents itself, Agist?" asked Connak as his eyes sharpened, "Back out, or release our arrow?"

Connak snorted, "Don't forget that he has three bodyguards coiling around him. If those three didn't leave their eyes out of him, not a single arrow of ours will reach his hair. Thus, this is the best chance that we got."

Agist gulped, "Even more so that we shouldn't attack him! There is no way that those bodyguards that rendered a True God cultivator to a bloody pulp with a single slam to the head, will leave their eyes out of their master. Not to mention his wife, the Cold Empress."

The elf king sighed. "The two of you made valid points, however, it is hard to even for me to make a decision."

Agist and Connak solemnly sighed down.

"However, we shall gain information on that war just like Connak suggested."

"Your Majesty?!" Agist exclaimed.

"Though, no one shall do anything without my order," said the elf king.

"At once, Your Majesty," Connak bowed.

"You are all dismissed," the elf king despite the lingering disappointment in Agist's eyes.

As the two of them left the dining hall the elf king sighed. "This is really compliacted, if their goal is just as I thought it would, then we might even have to work together with that juvenile monster instead."